Cigarette case



Nov. 20, 1928. 1",s92,'s4s F. W. CARPENTER CIGARETTE CASE Filed May 9, 1927 F 2 jfzj.[ f 1 31 Patented Nov. 20,1928. 2 it '1 V i v UNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS W. CARPENTER, OF MINNEAPOLIS MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOB- OF ONE-HALF TO MAURICE H. GRAHAM, OF ST. LOUIS PAR-K, MINNESOTA.

' CIGARETTE oasn.

Application filed May 9, 1927. Serial No. 189,867.

, My present invention has for its object of. The upper edge portions of the front to provide an extremely simple'and highly and sides of the liner 12 are turned laterally efficient cigarette case designed to hold, at one outward, rest on the underlying upper edges time, all of the cigarettes from a complete of the body 8, and support said liner spaced 5 standard package in such a manner that the from the bottom of the body 8. 60 cigarettes cannot get out of position, and An aligning channel 13v is formed at the whereintheir movements may be controlled rear of the body 8 under the supporting ledge and the cigarettes positioned for discharge 10, and is of such size, in cross section, as to from the case without binding or injury. hold a cigarette a: with freedom for en dwise in To the above end, generally stated, the in sliding movement. This channel 13 is Ventionconsists of the novel devices and comformed by the bottom of the body 8, the rear binations of devices hereinafter described wall of said body and the rear portion of the and defined in the claims. bottom of the liner 12, which terminates short In the accompanyingdrawings, which ilof said body. It will be noted that the sides lustrate the invention, like characters i'ndiof the liner 12 have openingsld to expose the 7 cate like parts throughout the several views. sides of the body 8. A discharge passage Referring to the drawings 15 is formed in one side of the body 8 in align- Fig. 1 is a top'view of the cigarette case ment with the channel 13 and of. such size as with a portion thereof broken away to show to permit a cigarette 00 to be projected endthe cigarettes therein; wise therethrough, as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 2 is aside elevation of-the same; It will be noted that the length of the liner Fig. 3 isa transverse section taken on the 12 is slightly greater than that of the cigaline 3-3 of Fig. 1, with some parts shown in rette m, but that the width thereof is matedifferent positions by means of broken lines; 'rially greater than the length of the ciga- Fig. 1 is a detail view in longitudinal sec rettes. To prevent the cigarette 00 from turn- 50 tion taken on the line 4 i of Fig. 8; ingendwise in the liner 12, there is-provided Fig. 5 is a horizontal section taken on the a partition 16 which divides said liner into a line 55 of Fig. 3, with-some parts br ken supply compartment 17 at the rear of the away and Other P t shown n d 'p case and a reserve compartment 18 at the tionsby means of broken lines, and also showf t. f th 63% v p ing a cigarette partly eje t d f om h The end portions of the partition 16 are Fig. 6 is aholizonta S C I taken 011 h bent laterally into the reserve compartment 18 line (i-6 of Fig. 3 with some parts shown 111 to afford ears 19 pivoted at v20 to the sides different positions by means of brokenlines; f th li -12 nd hold aid pa titi n ith and freedom for raising and lowering movements 90 Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail view in seC- in said liner; The longitudinal edge portions tion taken on the line 77 of Fig. 5,011 n 811- of the partition 16 are curved rearwardly, as larged scale. best shown in Fig.3, to eliminate sharp edges The cigarette case comprises a box-like on said partition which might damage the '40 body 8 having a cover 9 connected thereto by cigarettes in the case when the partition 16'is 95 a hinge which extends the full length of said moved into the liner 12. p case, projects into the body thereof, and. a f- By reference to Fig. 5 it will be noted that folds a medial supporting ledge 10, for a purthe length of the supply compartment 17 is pose that will presently appear. Said cover materially less than the width thereof so that 9 isprovided with a capping flange 11 that the cigarettes in said compartment cannot 100 closely fits around the body 8 with its outer turn endwise, and by tilting the cigarette case faces flush with the corresponding faces of the cigarettes may be caused to rollto the rear said body. It will be noted that the sides and of' the case and one thereof will always enter front of the body 8 are laterally inset at their the aligning channel 13 and be positioned upper port-ions to receive the capping flange thereby to be projected through the discharge 1 11 and that the case is without sharpcorners. passage 15. By reference to Fig. 3 it will be A liner 12 is provided for the body 8 and is noted that the case is completely filled with held in place by frictional engagement with cigarettes and that there are two tiers thereof. the ins-ct portion of said body, and is spaced The cigarette, at the rear of the case in the upfrom said body below the inset portion there per tier is'held by the supporting ledge 10 ch nel .13.

out of contact with the cigarette in the align ing channel 13 so as not to interfere with the free projecting movement thereof in said aligning trough.

A sliding gate 21 is mounted to slide on the same side of the body 8 as the discharge passage and has a laterally projecting flange 22 slidably mounted on the bottom of said body. The gate 21 is operated in-onedirection to close the discharge passage 15 by a spring 23 anchored toa post 24,011 the bottom of the body 8, and ,iattached to the flange 22. To open the gate 21 a ainst the tension of the spring 23, there is attached thereto a button 25 which projects outward of the casing and has a reduced neck which works in a slot 26 .in the body 8. This button 25 holds the gate 21 imposition for straight-line sliding move- Ejector mechanism actuated by the gate 21 is provided for moving the cigarette end'Wise in the aligned channel 13 and .partway vthrough the discharge passage 15 where the samemaybe removedfrom the case, as shown in F 5. Thisejector mechanism includes a hell-crank lever 27 pivoted to the post 24and having its shortiarm attached'to the flange 22:b.y a slip joint c'omprisingaa hook-like pivot lug28 on said arm which \works in a longitudinal slot 29 in said flange. Anarm 30, in the term of a rod, is pivoted to the long arm of the lever 27 and has its free endhentlaterally to form a finger 81. This finger 31 extends transversely of the alignin has an annular end portion axially aligned withethe discharge passage 15 and adapted to engage the inner end of a cigarette, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 7. The flange 22 slides directlyon the bottom of the body 8 and has raised portions under Whichthe spring 23 and the short arm of theilever27 project. A finger .32 on the lever 27 overlies the arm 30 and holds the sameinpivotal connection with said lever. The gate21 andthee ector mechanism are mounted between the body S andthe liner 1 d 12and thereby donotinterfere with thecigaret-tes in the case.

As previously stated. the gate 21 is yieldingly held by the spring 23 and normally closes the discharge passage 15, andthe ejector mechanism is held by the flange 22 in a p0sition in which the finger 31'en gages'the opposite side of the body 8 from the discharge passage '15, and theliner 12 projects outward thereof so that said finger will not interfere witl theflateralmovcment of the cigarettesin the case as theyarepositioned in the aligning The arm 30 Works through a guide slot intheliner 12andholds theifinger properly positioned in respect to the aligningchannel 13 for engagement ,vvith .a

cigarette therein. 7

The slip connection ,2 8-29 between the gate and ejector mechanism is so arranged that the gate 21 1s moved, by-pressure epchannel 13 and plied to the button 25, completely outof the field of the discharge passage 15 before 1t starts to operate the ejector mechanism to move the cigarettes in the aligning channel 13 and through said discharge passage. After a cigarette has been removed from the case, vthe button 25 is released and thespring 23, which has been placed under tension by the opening of the gate 21, returns said gate to its closed position and also resets the ejector mechanism during the final closing movemenhof said gate. 7

As previously stated, the supply company ment 17 and reserve compartment 18 will he ql all of the cigarettes removed from a complete package and when the supply in the compact:- anent 17 has beenexhausted, the partition 16 may be raisedto allow the cigarettes in ,the reserve compartment 18 to roll into the supply-compartment 17, V a v The supportingledge 10 will hold the ad jacent cigarette in the upper tier from dropping down on the oi arettein the ali ning channel 13 and there y interfering wit the aligning channel 13.

The liner 12 prevents loose tobacco tron] j interfering with the movable parts in the cigarette case, and the gate 21 notonly prevents the cigarettes'fromaccidentally working out'of the case, butit prevents the escape Off loose tobacco from the case.

By reference to Fig. 5 it-will be noted that the liner 12, at its opening 14, adjacent to the discharge passage lo, is substantially funnel-shaped andconcentric to said passage to assist in directi g a cigarette there through. 1

To further secure the liner 12 to the body 8 in addition to the frictional engagement therebetween, a plurality of holes are .punched in the liner 12 and the body 8 is upsettherein to afford separable connections 34 which dctachabl-y secure said liner to the o y 8. V

-What I claim is: j t

1. Ina cigarette case, a body having a displaceable cover, and a partition .in the body dividing the same into a supply compartment and a reserve compartment, said supply compartment having a discharge passage and being of a width less than that of gthe length thereof, said partition being displaceable to permit cigarettesto be moved laterally thereunder from the reserye compartment tothe supply compartment. 7

2. The structure definedin claim. 1 in which the partition has laterally projecting ears pivoted inrespect to the body.

3. In acigarette case, a .bodyhaving a displaceahle cover, said case being. of such fixed sugp rting edgeon theica e above the ao aligning channel for holding an overlying cigarette outof contact with a Cigarette in said channel.

4. In a cigarette case, a body, a cover, and

a hinge connecting the cover to the body, said case being of such depth as to hold two, tiers of cigarettes, said body having an aligning channel and a discharge passage at one end thereof, said hinge extending into the. body above the aligning channel and afi ord-- ing a supporting ledge for holding an overlying cigarette out ofcontact with a cigarette in said channel. 1

5. Ina cigarette case, ejector mechanism comprising a bell-crank lever, an ejector member having one of lits ends pivoted to one arm of said lever and having a follower a nection between the gate and the other arm of said lever, a guide for causing the follower of the ejector member to' move in a predetermined path, and a spring for acon its other end, a sliding gate, a slip contuating the ejector mechanism in one direc- 7 tion between said' gate and mechanism to permit the gate to open. in advanceof the eject-- ing action of said mechanism.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature;

FRAN oIs W: CARPENTER. 

